Binatone TV Master Mk4

I saw a couple of these on Ebay for a few pence each, both were listed as untested, so I placed a couple of punt bids and won them both, I already have the later Binatone TV Master Mk8, but these seem to be more common, so I had to have them



The IV in the MkIV name means this Pong machine only has four games available, These are selected by the switch on the right side of the device, and are Tennis, Football, Squash, and Squash (Practice) which is a single player game
Aside from that the middle of the console features two detachable controllers which are nothing more than a variable resistor in a plastic box, and a large speaker
On the left side are switches for power, sound, ball speed and angle, the size of the bat which is for both players at the same time, and auto/manual serve, there are also buttons for manual serve and start



The bottom of the unit has the battery compartment, which will swallow six D cell batteries, and the same label proclaiming "You will become a superstar with Binatone TV game" as the Mk8



The controllers fit into the bottom of the unit, not very well, but they do fit



The battery terminals are a bit crusty



The sides show off the sloping shape, and the right side has the external power socket, which as always is the same as the Atari 2600 and ZX81 PSUs




The controllers are just a variable resistor in a box, the plug is a 2 pole 3.5mm jack plug, the same as the PSU. This controller is missing the cable



Did I mention I bought two of them?



Two of the controllers are complete



Anyway, one appears to be dead, and the other makes all the right noises, but doesn't output a picture the modern TV can find, there is something there when manual tuning, but it can't tune to it, so that's another two consoles to go onto the repair list


For more retro hardware check out my online museum here


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